Will the government accept responsibility for the nuclear power plant accident? What are the new claims from the residents? Ruling on the 16th

Doesn't the country, which was in the position of regulating nuclear power plants, bear legal responsibility for the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, which caused a core meltdown without being prepared for tsunamis and other severe accidents? On the 16th, the Sendai High Court will hand down an appeals court judgment in the ``Tsushima lawsuit'' in which this question was questioned. In 2022, the Supreme Court issued a ruling denying the state's responsibility, but the Tsushima lawsuit raises new issues, and it will be interesting to see whether this will lead to a review of the judicial decision.

What kind of lawsuit is it?

Approximately 600 people were involved, including residents of the Tsushima district of Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture, where the entire town was forced to evacuate due to the accident. They are suing the national government and TEPCO for restoration of the area to its original condition to lower radiation levels and compensation for damages.

Tsushima is located approximately 30 kilometers northwest of the nuclear power plant, but due to the direction of the wind immediately after the accident, it suffered severe contamination, and even now, 98% of the island, excluding the area around the city office and branch, is uninhabitable and a difficult-to-return area. Residents continue to evacuate to surrounding municipalities, and nearly half of them became plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in 2015.

After the nuclear power plant accident, including the Tsushima lawsuit...